Академический Документы
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Культура Документы
University of Latvia
Faculty of Modern Languages
English Department
Bachelor Paper
An?elika Ozerova
Riga
2004
I hereby declare that this study is my own and does not contain any
unacknowledged material from any source.
Signed:
12 May, 2004
Abstract.
Table of Contents
Introduction …………………………………………………........................1
Chapter 1
What is test?……………………………………………………………………3
Chapter 2
2.1 Inaccurate tests……………...…………………………………………….7
2.2 Validity……………………..……………………………………………..8
2.3 Reliability………….. ……………………………………………………11
Chapter 3
3.1 Diagnostic tests………………………………. ………………………….13
3.2 Placement tests…………………………...……………………………….15
3.3 Progress tests……………………………………………...........................17
3.4 Achievement tests………………………..……………………………….18
3.5 Proficiency tests…………………………………………………………..20
Chapter 4
4.1 Direct and Indirect testing…..…………………………………………....22
4.2 Discrete point and integrative testing……………………………………..24
4.3 Criterion-refernced and Norm-referenced testing…………………………25
4.4 Objective and Subjective testing...………………………………………..26
4.5 Communicative language testing…………………………………………26
Chapter 5
5.1 Multiple choice tests………………………………………………………29
5.2 Short answer tests…………………………………………………………32
5.3 The Cloze tests and Gap-filling tests……………………………………..33
5.4 C-Test……………………………………………………………………..35
5.5 True/false items……………………………………………………………36
5.6 Dictation…………………………………………………………………...36
5.7 Listening Recall……………………………………………………………38
5.8 Testing Grammar through Error-recognition Items……………………….38
5.9 Controlled Writing…………………………………………………………39
5.10 Free Writing………………………………………………………………40
5.11 Test Formats Used in Testing Speaking Skills…………………………..41
Chapter 6
Analysis of the Test of English as a Foreign Language and Cambridge
First
Certificate test according to test design criteria………………………………..43
Conclusions…………………………………………………………………...55
Theses. ………………………………………………………..........................57
Bibliography…………………………………………………….......................59
Appendix
Introduction
Among all words used in a classroom there is the only word that
usually makes the students shudder: “test”. There is hardly a person who
would claim that s/he favours tests and finds them very motivating.
However, tests cannot be avoided completely, for they are inevitable
elements of learning process. They are included into curriculum at schools
and are to check the students’ level of knowledge and what they are able to
do; they could be accomplished at the beginning of the study year and at
the end of it; the students could be tested after working on new topics and
acquiring new vocabulary. Moreover, the students are to face the tests in
order to enter any foreign university or reveal the level of their English
language skills for themselves. For that purpose they take specially
designed tests that are Test of English as a Foreign Language, or TOEFL
test (further in the text) and CFC (further in the text), or Cambridge
First Certificate. Although, these tests can sometimes serve for different
purposes and are unrelated, they are sometimes quite common in their design
and structure. Therefore, the author of the paper is particularly
interested in the present research, for she assumes it to be of a great
significance not only for herself, but also for the individuals who are
either involved in the field or just want to learn more about TOEFL and CFC
tests, their structure, design and application. Therefore, the present
research will display various aspects of the theory discussed, accompanied
with the practical part vastly analyzed.
Thus, the goal of the present research is to investigate various types
of test formats and ways of testing, focusing particularly on TOEFL and CFC
tests, in order to see how the theory is used and could be applied in
practice.
The hypothesis is as follows: Serving for almost similar purpose, however
being sometimes different in their design and structure, the TOEFL and CFC
tests are usually constructed according to the accepted universal pattern.
The enabling objectives are as follows:
. To review literature on the nature of tests in order to make
theoretically well-motivated discussions on the choice of testing types;
. To analyse the selected types of tests, such as TOEFL and CFC tests;
. To draw relevant conclusions.
Methods of Research:
Theoretical:
1) Analytical and selective study of the theory available;
2) Juxtaposition of the ideas selected from theory and tested against
practical evidences;
3) Drawing conclusions.
Practical:
. Selecting and adapting appropriate tests types, such as TOEFL and CFC, to
exemplify the theory.
Chapter 1
What is test?
Hicks (2000:155) considers that the role of tests is very useful and
important, especially in language learning. It is a means to show both the
students and the teacher how much the learners have learnt during a course.
The author of the paper agrees with the statement, for she believes that in
order to see whether the students have acquired the material and are making
constant progress, the teacher will inevitably have to test his/her
learners. It does not mean that a usual test format with a set of
activities will be used all the time. To check the students’ knowledge the
teacher can apply a great range of assessment techniques, including even
the self-evaluation technique that is so beloved and favoured by the
students. Moreover, according to Heaton (1990:6), tests could be used to
display the strength and weaknesses of the teaching process and help the
teacher improve it. They can demonstrate what should be paid more attention
to, should be worked on and practised. Furthermore, the tests results will
display the students their weak points, and if carefully guided by the
teacher, the students will be even able to take any remedial actions.
Thompson (Forum, 2001) believes that students learn more when they
have tests. Here we can both agree and disagree. Certainly, preparing for a
test, the student has to study the material that is supposed to be tested,
but often it does not mean that such type of learning will obligatory lead
to acquisition and full understanding of it. On the opposite, it could
often lead to the pure cramming. That, consequently, will result in a
stressful situation the student will find her/himself before or during the
test, and the final outcome will be a complete deletion of the studied
material. We can base that previous statement on our own experience: when
working at school, the author of the present research had encountered such
examples for many times.
However, very often the tests can facilitate the students’ acquisition
process, i.e.: the students are to be checked the knowledge of the
irregular verbs forms. Being constantly tested by means of a small test,
they can learn them successfully and transfer them to their long-term
memory, as well. Although, according to Thompson tests decrease practice
and instruction time. What he means is that the students are as if limited;
they are exposed to practice of a new material, however, very often the
time implied for it is strictly recommended and observed by a syllabus.
That denotes that there will be certain requirements when to use a test.
Thus, the students find themselves in definite frames that the teacher will
employ. Nevertheless, there could be advantages that tests can offer: they
increase learning, for the students are supposed to study harder during the
preparation time before a test.
Thompson (ibid.) quotes Eggan, who emphasises the idea that the
learners study hard for the classes they are tested thoroughly. Further, he
cites Hilles, who considers that the students want and expect to be tested.
Nonetheless, this statement has been rather generalized. Speaking about the
students at school, we can declare that there is hardly a student who will
truly enjoy tests and their procedure. Usually, what we will see just sore
faces when a test is being mentioned. According to Thompson, the above-
mentioned idea could be applied to the students who want to pass their
final exams or to get a certificate in Test of English as a Foreign
Language (TOEFL) or First Certificate (FCE). Mostly this concerns adults or
the students who have their own special needs, such as going abroad to
study or work. This again supports the idea that motivation factor plays a
significant role in the learning process.
Moreover, too much of testing could be disastrous. It can entirely
change the students’ attitude towards learning the language, especially if
the results are usually dissatisfying and decrease their motivation towards
learning and the subject in general.
Furthermore, as Alderson (1996:212) assumes, we should not forget that
the tests when administered receive less support from the teacher as it is
usually during the exercises in a usual language classroom. The students
have to cope themselves; they cannot rely on the help of the teacher if
they are in doubt. During a usual procedure when doing various activities
the students know they can encounter the teacher’s help if they require it.
They know the teacher is always near and ready to assist, therefore, no one
is afraid to make a mistake and try to take a chance to do the exercises.
However, when writing a test and being left alone to deal with the test
activities, the students panic and forget everything they knew before. The
author of the paper believes that first what the teacher should do is to
teach the students to overcome their fear of tests and secondly, help them
acquire the ability to work independently believing in their own knowledge.
That ability according to Alderson is the main point, “the core meaning” of
the test. The students should be given confidence. Here we can refer to
Heaton (1990:7) who conceives, supported by Hicks, that students’
encouragement is a vital element in language learning. Another question
that may emerge here is how to reach the goal described above, how to
encourage the students. Thus, at this point we can speak about positive
results. In fact, our success motivates us to study further, encourages us
to proceed even if it is rather difficult and we are about to lose
confidence in ourselves. Therefore, we can speak about the tests as a tool
to increase motivation. However, having failed for considerable number of
times, the student would definitely oppose the previous statement. Hence,
we can speak about assessment and evaluation as means for increasing the
students’ motivation.
Concerning Hicks (2000:162), we often perceive these two terms –
evaluating and assessment – as two similar notions, though they are
entirely different. She states that when we assess our students we commonly
are interested in “how and how much our students have learnt”, but when we
evaluate them we are concerned with “how the learning process is
developing”. These both aspects are of great importance for the teacher and
the students and should be correlated in order to make evaluation and
assessment “go hand in hand”. However, very frequently, the teachers assess
the students without taking the aspect of evaluation into account.
According to Hicks, this assessment is typically applied when dealing with
examinations that take place either at the end of the course or school
year. Such assessment is known as achievement test. With the help of these
tests the teacher receives a clear picture of what his/her students have
learnt and which level they are comparing with the rest of the class. The
author of the paper agrees that achievement tests are very essential for
comparing how the students’ knowledge has changed during the course. This
could be of a great interest not only for the teacher, but also for the
authorities of the educational establishment the teacher is employed by.
Thus, evaluation of the learning process is not of the major importance
here. We can speak about evaluation when we deal with “small” tests the
teachers use during the course or studying year. It is a well-known fact
that these tests are employed in order to check how the learning process is
going on, where the students are, what difficulties they encounter and what
they are good at. These tests are also called “diagnostic” tests; they
could be of a great help for the teacher: judging from the results of the
test, analysing them the teacher will be able to improve or alter the
course and even introduce various innovations. These tests will define
whether the teacher can proceed with the new material or has to stop and
return to what has not been learnt sufficiently in order to implement
additional practice.
With respect to Hicks, we can display some of her useful and practical
ideas she proposes for the teachers to use in the classroom. In order to
incorporate evaluation together with assessment she suggests involving the
students directly into the process of testing. Before testing vocabulary
the teacher can ask the students to guess what kind of activities could be
applied in the test. The author of the paper believes that it will give
them an opportunity to visage how they are going to be tested, to be aware
of and wait for, and the most important, it will reduce fear the students
might face. Moreover, at the end of each test the students could be asked
their reflections: if there was a multiple choice, what helped them guess
correctly, what they used for that – their schemata or just pure guessing;
if there was a cloze test - did they use guessing from the context or some
other skills, etc. Furthermore, Hicks emphasises that such analysis will
display the students the way they are tested and establish an appropriate
test for each student. Likewise, evaluation will benefit the teacher as
well. S/he not only will be able to discover the students’ preferences, but
also find out why the students have failed a particular type of activity or
even the whole test. The evaluation will determine what is really wrong
with the structure or design of the test itself. Finally, the students
should be taught to evaluate the results of the test. They should be asked
to spot the places they have failed and together with the teacher attempt
to find out what has particularly caused the difficulties. This will lead
to consolidation of the material and may be even to comprehension of it.
And again the teacher’s role is very essential, for the students alone are
not able to cope with their mistakes. Thus, evaluation is inevitable
element of assessment if the teacher’s aim is to design a test that will
not make the students fail, but on the contrary, anticipate the test’s
results.
To conclude we can add alluding to Alderson (1996:212) that the usual
classroom test should not be too complicated and should not discriminate
between the levels of the students. The test should test what was taught.
The author of the paper has the same opinion, for the students are very
different and the level of their knowledge is different either. It is
inappropriate to design a test of advanced level if among your learners
there are those whose level hardly exceeds lower intermediate.
Above all, the tests should take the learners’ ability to work and
think into account, for each student has his/her own pace, and some
students may fail just because they have not managed to accomplish the
required tasks in time.
Furthermore, Alderson assumes (ibid.) that the instructions of the
test should be unambiguous. The students should clearly see what they are
supposed and asked to do and not to be frustrated during the test.
Otherwise, they will spend more time on asking the teacher to explain what
they are supposed to do, but not on the completing of the tasks themselves.
Finally, according to Heaton (1990:10) and Alderson (1996:214), the teacher
should not give the tasks studied in the classroom for the test. They
explain it by the fact, that when testing we need to learn about the
students’ progress, but not to check what they remember. The author of the
paper concurs the idea and assumes that the one of the aims of the test is
to check whether the students are able to apply their knowledge in various
contexts. If this happens, that means they have acquired the new material.
Chapter 2
1. Inaccurate tests
Hughes (1989:2) conceives that one of the reasons why the tests are not
favoured is that they measure not exactly what they have to measure. The
author of the paper supports the idea that it is impossible to evaluate
someone’s true abilities by tests. An individual might be a bright student
possessing a good knowledge of English, but, unfortunately, due to his/her
nervousness may fail the test, or vice versa, the student might have
crammed the tested material without a full comprehension of it. As a
result, during the test s/he is just capable of producing what has been
learnt by tremendous efforts, but not elaboration of the exact actual
knowledge of the student (that, unfortunately, does not exist at all).
Moreover, there could be even more disastrous case when the student has
cheated and used his/her neighbour’s work. Apart from the above-mentioned
there could be other factors that could influence an inadequate completion
of the test (sleepless night, various personal and health problems, etc.)
However, very often the test itself can provoke the failure of the
students to complete it. With the respect to the linguists, such as Hughes
(1989) and Alderson (1996), we are able to state that there are two main
causes of the test being inaccurate:
. Test content and techniques;
. Lack of reliability.
The first one means that the test’s design should response to what is
being tested. First, the test must content the exact material that is to be
tested. Second, the activities, or techniques, used in the test should be
adequate and relevant to what is being tested. This denotes they should not
frustrate the learners, but, on the contrary, facilitate and help the
students write the test successfully.
The next one denotes that one and the same test given at a different time
must score the same points. The results should not be different because of
the shift in time. For example, the test cannot be called reliable if the
score gathered during the first time the test was completed by the students
differs from that administered for the second time, though knowledge of the
learners has not changed at all. Furthermore, reliability can fail due to
the improper design of a test (unclear instructions and questions, etc.)
and due to the ways it is scored. The teacher may evaluate various students
differently taking different aspects into consideration (level of the
students, participation, effort, and even personal preferences.) If there
are two markers, then definitely there will be two different evaluations,
for each marker will possess his/her own criteria of marking and evaluating
one and the same work. For example, let us mention testing speaking skills.
Here one of the makers will probably treat grammar as the most significant
point to be evaluated, whereas the other will emphasise the fluency more.
Sometimes this could lead to the arguments between the makers;
nevertheless, we should never forget that still the main figure we have to
deal with is the student.
2.2. Validity
3. Reliability
Chapter 3
Types of tests
Having discussed two types of tests that are usually used at the
beginning, we can approach the test typically employed during the study
year to check the students’ development. We will speak about a progress
test. According to Alderson (1996:217), progress test will show the teacher
whether the students have learnt the recently taught material successfully.
Basically, the teacher intends to check certain items, not general topics
covered during the school or study year. Commonly, it is not very long and
is determined to check the recent material. Therefore, the teacher might
expect his/her learners to get rather high scores. The following type is
supposed to be used after the students have learnt either a set of units on
a theme or have covered a definite topic of the language. It will display
the teacher whether the material has been successfully acquired or the
students need additional practice instead of starting a new material.
A progress test will basically display the activities based on the
material the teacher is determined to check. To evaluate it the teacher can
work out a certain system of points that later will compose a mark.
Typically, such tests do not influence the students’ final mark at the end
of the year.
The authorities of school demand the teachers to conduct progress
tests, as well. However, the teachers themselves decide on the necessity of
applying them. Nevertheless, we can claim that progress test is inevitable
part of the learning process. We can even take a responsibility to declare
that progress test facilitate the material acquisition in a way. The
students preparing for the test look through the material again and there
is a chance it can be transferred to their long-term memory.
Further, we can come to Alderson (ibid.) who presumes that such type
of testing could function as a motivating fact for the learners, for
success will develop the students’ confidence in their own knowledge and
motivate them study further more vigorously. In case, there will be two or
three students whose scores are rather low, the teacher should encourage
them by providing support in future and imply the idea that studying hard
will allow them to catch up with the rest of the students sooner or later.
The author of the paper basing on her experience agrees with the statement,
for she had noticed that weaker students when they had managed to write
their test successfully became proud of their achievement and started
working better.
However, if the majority of the class scores a rather low grade, the
teacher should be cautious. This could be a signal that there is either
something wrong with the teaching or the students are low motivated or
lazy.
Chapter 4
Ways of testing
The first types of testing we are intended to discuss are direct and
indirect testing. First, we will try to define each of them; secondly, we
will endeavour to compare them.
We will commence our discussion with direct testing that according to
Hughes (1989:14) means the involvement of a skill that is supposed to be
tested. The following view means that when applying the direct testing the
teacher will be interested in testing a particular skill, e.g. if the aim
of the test is to check listening comprehension, the students will be given
a test that will check their listening skills, such as listening to the
tape and doing the accompanying tasks. Such type of test will not engage
testing of other skills. Hughes (ibid.) emphasises the importance of using
authentic materials. Though, we stipulate that the teacher is free to
decide him/herself what kind of material the students should be provided
with. It the teacher’s aim is to teach the students to comprehend the real,
native speech, s/he will apply the authentic material in teaching and
later, logically, in tests. Developing the idea we can cite Bynom (2001:8)
who assumes that direct testing introduces real-life language through
authentic tasks. Consequently, it will lead to the usage of role-plays,
summarising the general idea, providing the missing information, etc.
Moving further and analysing the statements made by the linguists (Bynom,
2001; Hughes,1989) we can posit the idea that direct testing will be task-
oriented, effective and easy to manage if it tests such skills as writing
or speaking. It could be explained by the fact that the tasks intended to
check the skills mentioned above give us precise information about the
learners’ abilities. Moreover, we can maintain that when testing writing
the teacher demands the students to write a certain task, such as an essay,
a composition or reproduction, and it will be precisely the point the
teacher will be intended to check. There will be certain demands imposed on
writing test; the teacher might be just interested in the students’ ability
to produce the right layout of an essay without taking grammar into
account, or, on the contrary, will be more concerned with grammatical and
syntactical structures. What concerns testing speaking skills, here the
author of the paper does not support the idea promoted by Bynom that it
could be treated as direct testing. Definitely, you will have a certain
task to involve your speaking skills; however, speaking is not possible
without employment of listening skills. This in turn will generate the idea
that apart from speaking skills the teacher will test the students’ ability
to understand the speech s/he hears, thus involving speaking skills.
It is said that the advantages of direct testing is that it is
intended to test some certain abilities, and preparation for that usually
involves persistent practice of certain skills. Nevertheless, the skills
tested are deprived from the authentic situation that later may cause
difficulties for the students in using them.
Now we can shift to another notion - indirect testing. It differs from
direct one in the way that it measures a skill through some other skill. It
could mean the incorporation of various skills that are connected with each
other, e.g. listening and speaking skills.
Indirect testing, regarding to Hughes, tests the usage of the language
in real-life situation. Moreover, it suits all situations; whereas direct
testing is bound to certain tasks intended to check a certain skill. Hughes
(ibid.) assumes that indirect testing is more effective than direct one,
for it covers a broader part of the language. It denotes that the learners
are not constrained to one particular skill and a relevant exercise. They
are free to elaborate all four skills; what is checked is their ability to
operate with those skills and apply them in various, even unpredictable
situations. This is the true indicator of the learner’s real knowledge of
the language.
Indirect testing has more advantages that disadvantages, although the
only drawback according to Hughes is that such type of testing is difficult
to evaluate. It could be frustrating what to check and how to check;
whether grammar should be evaluated higher, than composition structure or
vice versa. The author of the paper agrees with that, however, basing on
her experience at school again, she must claim that it is not so easy to
apply indirect testing. This could be rather time-consuming, for it is a
well-known fact that the duration of the class is just forty minutes;
moreover, it is rather complicated to construct indirect test – it demands
a lot of work, but our teachers are usually overloaded with a variety of
other duties. Thus, we can only hope on the course books that supply us
with a variety of activities that involve cooperation of all four skills.
Having discussed the kinds of testing that deal with general aspects,
such as certain skills and variety of skills in cooperation, we can come to
the more detailed types as discrete point and integrative testing.
According to Longman Dictionary of LTAL (112), discrete point test is a
language test that is meant to test a particular language item, e.g.
tenses. The basis of that type of tests is that we can test components of
the language (grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, and spelling) and
language skills (listening, reading, speaking, and writing) separately. We
can declare that discrete point test is a common test used by the teachers
in our schools. Having studied a grammar topic or new vocabulary, having
practiced it a great deal, the teacher basically gives a test based on the
covered material. This test usually includes the items that were studied
and will never display anything else from a far different field. The same
will concern the language skills; if the teacher’ aim is to check reading
skills; the other skills will be neglected. The author of the paper had
used such types of tests herself, especially after a definite grammar topic
was studied. She had to construct the tests herself basing on the examples
displayed in various grammar books. It was usually gap-filling exercises,
multiple choice items or cloze tests. Sometimes a creative work was
offered, where the students had to write a story involving a certain
grammar theme that was being checked. According to her observance, the
students who studied hard were able to complete them successfully, though
there were the cases when the students failed. Now having discussed the
theory on validity, reliability and types of testing, it is even more
difficult to realize who was really to blame for the test failures: either
the tests were wrongly designed or there was a problem in teaching.
Notwithstanding, this type was and still remains to be the most general and
acceptable type in schools of our country, for it is easy to design, it
concerns a certain aspect of the language and is easy to score. If we speak
about types of tests we can say that this way of testing refers more to a
progress test (You can see the examples of such type of test in Appendix
2).
Nevertheless, according to Bynom (2001:8) there is a certain drawback
of discrete point testing, for it tests only separated parts, but does not
show us the whole language. It is true, if our aim is to incorporate the
whole language. Though, if we are to check the exact material the students
were supposed to learn, then why not use it.
Discussing further, we have come to integrative tests. According to
Longman Dictionary of LTAL, the integrative test intends to check several
language skills and language components together or simultaneously. Hughes
(1989:15) stipulates that the integrative tests display the learners’
knowledge of grammar, vocabulary, spelling together, but not as separate
skills or items.
Alderson (1996:219) poses that, by and large, most teachers prefer
using integrative testing to discrete point type. He explains the fact that
basically the teachers either have no enough of spare time to check a
certain split item being tested or the purpose of the test is only
considered to view the whole material. Moreover, some language skills such
as reading do not require the precise investigation of the students’
abilities whether they can cope with definite fragments of the text or not.
We can render the prior statements as the idea that the teachers are mostly
concerned with general language knowledge, but not with bits and pieces of
it. The separate items usually are not capable of showing the real state of
the students’ knowledge. What concerns the author of the paper, she finds
integrative testing very useful, though more habitual one she believes to
be discrete point test. She assumes that the teacher should incorporate
both types of testing for effective evaluation of the students’ true
language abilities.
4.3 Criterion-referenced and norm referenced testing
It worth mentioning that apart from scoring and testing the learners’
abilities another essential role could be devoted to indirect factors that
influence evaluating. These are objective and subjective issues in testing.
According to Hughes (1989:19), the difference between these two types is
the way of scoring and presence or absence of the examiner’s judgement. If
there is not any judgement, the test is objective. On the contrary, the
subjective test involves personal judgement of the examiner. The author of
the paper sees it as when testing the students objectively, the teacher
usually checks just the knowledge of the topic. Whereas, testing
subjectively could imply the teacher’s ideas and judgements. This could be
encountered during speaking test where the student can produce either
positive or negative impression on the teacher. Moreover, the teacher’s
impression and his/her knowledge of the students’ true abilities can
seriously influence assessing process. For example, the student has failed
the test; however, the teacher knows the true abilities of the student and,
therefore, s/he will assess the work of that student differently taking all
the factors into account.
4.5 Communicative language testing
Chapter 5
Testing the Language Skills
However, the task could be more demanding if the teacher will not
assist the learners’ guesses and will not provide any hints:
It is evident that the teacher’s aim by the help of the rational cloze
test is to check the students’ knowledge of the Present simple of the verb
“to be”. Thereof, the cloze tests could be successfully used for testing
grammar, as well.
We have come again to the point when we are going to mention the
advantages and disadvantages of cloze and gap-filling testing coined by
Weir. Regarding Weir, there are more disadvantages than advantages in
applying the cloze tests. He says that to design a cloze test is fairly
easy, and they are easy to evaluate, and it is the best means to check
reading comprehension. Concerning the drawbacks, we can emphasise that
randomly removed words usually will act as distractors and will not be of
true importance for the students to comprehend a message if, for example,
it is a reading task.
Compared to the cloze test, gap filling is more material based, for
it checks the students’ knowledge of a particular topic. Therefore, we can
speak about the first advantage that is the learners will know exactly what
they should insert. Moreover, the selectively deleted items allow focusing
exactly on them and do not confuse the student.
The last what could be said about gap filling tests is that this
technique limits us to check only a certain language skill, e.g. a
vocabulary on different topics.
5.4 C-Tests
This test format is familiar for all the teachers and students. Each
reading task will always be followed with true/false activities that will
intend to check the students’ comprehension of a text. The students will be
offered a set of statements some of which are true and some are wrong,
e.g.:
1. People went to see ‘Cats’ because of the story. T F
2. Lloyd Webber’s father helped his career. T F
3. Lloyd Webber comes from a musical family. T F
( Famous Britons, Michael
Dean)
They usually should be ticked, and in order to tick the correct variants
the students have to be able to employ various guessing strategies.
According to Weir (1990:48), the advantage of such test is found in
its applicability and suitability. One can write more true/false statements
for a test and use them to check the students’ progress or achievement.
Furthermore, the current sort of testing could be more motivating for the
students than a multiple-choice test. It will not make the students
confused offering just one possibility than a multiple-choice test, which
typically proposes more than one option to choose from. Moreover, it is
easy to answer for the students and check for the teachers.
5.6 Dictation
or
|verb |noun |person |Adjective |
|Invent | | | |
| | |discoverer |- |
| |creation | | |
Heaton (ibid.) believes that the most suitable way to check the
students’ writing skills is asking them to write a composition. The teacher
can include a variety of testing criteria there depending on what is really
being tested. The topics for a composition should be appropriate to the age
of the students and respond to their interest. However, the teacher has to
establish clearly what s/he is going to check (the material studied: e.g.
grammar) and what could be neglected. The students have to know whether
the teacher is interested in the context or may be s/he is concerned with
grammar and spelling, as well.
We are not going to deep into details of test formats used for
testing speaking skills. Heaton (ibid.) displays that one of the most
essential elements of testing speaking is pronunciation. To check how the
students pronounce certain testing items the teacher may ask his/her
students to read aloud and retell stories. Moreover, the teacher will
receive the impression how well his/her students can operate with the
spoken language.
Afterwards, the teachers can use pictures to test the students’
speaking skills. This is widely used task, and a lot of teachers use it to
check the students speaking skills and the knowledge of the vocabulary.
Moreover, while describing the picture the student will have to imply the
correct grammar and knowledge of the English sentence structure. The
description could be done on the spot and does not require a lot of time
for preparation, though Heaton (ibid.) stipulates that the teacher should
ensure his/her students with a time during which they can formulate their
ideas before presentation.
Apart from the pictures the students could be offered to describe a
person if their topic is people’s appearance or jobs, stay the sequence of
events basing on the provided information or pictures accompanying the
task, spot differences between two pictures and compare them. Further,
Heaton (ibid.) displays a rather interesting task. The students receive a
picture with speech bubbles. They are asked to write what they think people
are saying. This in turn involves creativity from the students and could be
assessed as an additional element and contribute to the students’ marks.
Definitely, each teacher will develop and give the students various tasks
regarding the criteria and demands to be tested.
In conclusion we can say that the teacher can use a variety of test
formats, such as multiple-choice questions, transfer of information;
reordering the words, describe a picture, listening to the instructions to
check the language skills of his/her students. Every teacher has to choose
him/herself the tasks that will be appropriate to their way of teaching and
the needs of the students.
Below we have attached the table of four language skills and test
formats applicable for each skill.
| | |
|Language Skills |Test Formats |
| | |
|Reading skills |1 Multiple-choice items |
| |Short answers test |
| |Cloze test |
| |Gap-filling test |
| |False/true statement |
| | |
|Listening skills |Multiple-choice items |
| |False/true statements |
| |Gap-filling tests |
| |Dictations |
| |Listening recall |
| | |
|Writing skills |Dictations |
| |Compositions |
| |Reproductions |
| |Writing stories |
| |Writing diaries |
| |Filling-in forms |
| |Word formation |
| |Sentence transformation |
| | |
|Speaking skills |Retelling stories |
| |Describing pictures |
| |Describing people |
| |Spotting the differences |
Chapter 6
CFC reading paper will test the students’ ability to read in a variety of
ways: reading for gist (understanding of the text), reading for details,
understanding how a text is organized and deducing the meaning from the
context. (Typically, the students could be given four parts to fill)
(Prodromou, 1998:8). For that purpose CFC reading paper will offer the
students multiple matching. The students will have to match headings or
summary sentences to the parts of the text. They will have to show their
ability to grasp the overall meaning of the text involving various kinds of
knowledge such as morphological, semantic and syntactical one. For example:
Meet the Flinstones, a modern Stone Age family. From the town of Bedrock,
here’s a bit about their history….
1. Somewhere in the world, every hour of every day, The Flinstones is being
broadcast. An incredible 300 million fans tune in to watch it regularly.
Whether you like them or not, Fred, Wilma and their neighbours are
impossible to avoid….
A) Rocky jokes B) A Stone Age family in skins C) A new idea D) A
popular show, etc.
Prodromou, First Certificate Star,
1998
Thus, basing on the theory we have discussed in the first part of our
paper, we can claim that it is integrative type of test, though being
direct, that denotes testing one particular skill directly, but not through
other language skills.
Afterwards, CFC may offer the students multiple choice, gapped texts and
again multiple matching only connected with information. In multiple-choice
activity the students will have to answer four-option multiple-choice
questions about a text. For example:
Mad Cow Disease is a deadly illness of the brain and it is the non-
technical term for BSE or Bovine Spongiform Encephalitis. This so difficult
to say that journalists and even some doctors prefer the more vivid Mad Cow
Disease…
1. We use the expression Mad Cow Disease because
A) it is more accurate.
B) It is easier to say.
C) It links cows with people.
D) It sounds less scientific.
Prodromou, First Certificate Star,
1998
It is obvious that only one answer will be the right one, but the others
will be distractors that will try to confuse the reader. It will limit the
students and make them use a variety of reading strategies, knowledge of
vocabulary and syntaxes to discover the right variant. However, the
students will not have an opportunity to support their choices and prove
why the answer they have chosen is the exact one. Moreover, the students
will be checked whether they understand the general meaning of the text,
its details, whether they can infer the meaning from the text and
understand references (who refers who). Thus, we can declare that this type
of test is integrative, for it involves the students’ abilities to apply
various reading strategies and still direct, for it tests just reading
skills.
The same could be said about gapped texts that will check the students’
knowledge of reading strategies, such as organization of the text, reading
for gist, etc. (examples available in Appendix p.17) To complete it the
students will have to show their knowledge of the certain areas of the
language. Multiple matching will require the students to match pieces of
information either with a certain text divided into fragments or with
several texts joined together with one topic (examples available in
Appendix p.8).
CFC will display various types of texts in order to see how well the
students can cope with any authentic material when dealing with reading.
They will have to show their capability of dealing with advertisements,
letters, stories, travelling brochures, guides, manuals, and magazine and
newspaper articles. The type of test applicable here will be integrative,
including a variety of strategies and direct checking the students reading
skills.
TOEFL test’s reading part usually involves the students’ general
comprehension of a text. It is regularly a text followed by a number of
questions about it typically in the form of multiple choice items format.
However, this part of the test requires the students to show their skills
in reading for gist, the students have to define the main idea of a text;
afterwards, the students will have to display their knowledge of the
vocabulary, especially synonyms, ability to infer the meaning, define the
words and apply their skills connected with working with references, i.e.:
….The biggest disadvantage was that the sound and pictures could become
unsynchronised if, for example, the gramophone needle jumped or if the
speed of the projector changed. This system was only effective for a single
song or dialogue sequence…..
47. The word “sequence” in line 14 is closest in meaning to
A) interpretation
B) progression
C) distribution
D) organization
Gear, Cambridge preparation for the TOEFL test, 1996
The listening part of CFC test aims to test the students’ ability to
listen and understand the gist, the main points, and specific information
is to deduce meaning. TOEFL test will check whether the students are able
to understand conversations and talks in English.
CFC test will offer the students a variety of activities in order to
check whether the students can imply effective listening strategies to
comprehend the message. It suggests the idea of the test being integrative,
for it will focus on different means that could be used to deal with a
listening task. For example, CFC offers multiple choices as a task
(examples available in Appendix p.37): the students listen to several short
extracts that are taken from different contexts. They could be dialogues or
monologues as well. The answer sheet will display the three answer items
from which the students will have to choose the correct one. The task could
ask the students to guess who the speaker is, where the action takes place,
what the conversation is about and even it can include the question about
the feelings and emotions of speakers that could be guessed from the
contexts.
Afterwards, there will be another task – note taking or blank filling
that will check the student’s ability to listen for gist and for details.
This type will demand the student’s capability to use his/her writing
skills to put down information they will hear. They will have to be able to
pick up the necessary information and retain it in their memory in order to
fulfil the task (examples available in Appendix p.87).
Subsequently, a further task could engage multiple matching where the
students will have to concentrate on a particular kind of information. This
task could be displayed in the form of a dialogue or a monologue. The
students will be given several answers with letters that should be inserted
into the right box. However, there will always be one option that does not
suit any question, the so-called distractor. Moreover, asking the students
to complete a grid, i.e. advantages and disadvantages of anything, could
expand the task, i.e. advantages and disadvantages of keeping a certain
pet:
| |Advantages |Disadvantages |
|dog | | |
|cat | | |
|fish | | |
The test implies the idea that to do it the students have to use a
variety of listening strategies, but it is not directly aimed at it.
Whereas, the listening part of CFC test is structured so that the students
would be able to display their listening skills and strategies, that are so
useful for them to comprehend the real message in the real-life situation
dealing with a native speaker.
Thus, we can distinguish certain similarities and differences, which we
can encounter comparing them. They are both direct aiming at checking one
exact skill; however, CFC is integrative, but TOEFL is discreet point test.
Moreover, the test formats differ as well. CFC is richer in activities,
than TOEFL test, which offer the students just multiple-choice items test.
The author of the paper presumes that CFC listening part is more testee-
friendly, while TOEFL listening part is more “reserved” and does not allow
the students fill free, but alarmed.
Writing Part
Writing part of CFC test tests the students’ ability to write different
types of writing texts. These could be transactional letters, simple
letters, compositions, descriptions, reports, etc. Moreover, the students
could be asked to write an opinion composition and even an article
(examples available in Appendix p.38).
Transactional letters are aimed at making somebody do something. Writing
them, the students have to keep in mind that they are supposed to get a
relevant answer.
There are different types of transactional letters, such as a letter of
complaint, a letter of invitation, a letter asking for information and a
letter describing something. The task requiring the students ability to
write these letters will supply the students with necessary information,
may be even pictures, and usually will ask for the students’ personal
opinion. Moreover, the students have to be aware of the style that should
be used depending on the requirements. Furthermore, the students will have
to know how the letters are structured, for it will be the factor that will
be evaluated as well.
Another writing task such as writing articles for a magazine will require
the students to display their writing abilities, the knowledge of the
vocabulary, the style and letter organization knowledge (examples available
in Appendix 38).
Writing a report will be based on the students’ capability to gather
facts and analyse them. It could involve a kind of a research work and
knowledge how to express and link the ideas together (examples available in
Appendix 30).
Writing a narrative story will ask the creativity from the students to
make it interesting and original. Again the students will have to be able
to express and link their ideas to produce a meaningful text.
Opinion composition will involve the students’ abilities to state
advantages and disadvantages of the topic being discussed, expressing own
opinion, stating the problem and possible solutions of it and expansion on
the topic analysing various aspects of a topic.
Another writing task could be a book review. The students will have to
know how to plan and organize the review, giving brief information about an
author and some essential details about a book. Moreover, personal opinion
of the students will be required as well.
Thus, looking at the facts stated above we can declare that the writing
part of CFC is purely integrative type of test, for it involves all
possible written tasks and strategies that should be used to accomplish the
tasks effectively. Furthermore, it will be a direct testing aimed at
testing the students’ writing skills. The tasks and activities presented in
this part of CFC reflect the students’ needs they may meet in a real-life
situation, for every possible writing piece is given.
The writing part of TOEFL test will generally involve essay writing.
There will not be any letters or book reviews. The students will be given a
topic that is typically a statement and they will have to expand it and
write about it giving the facts, ideas and sometimes even a personal
opinion, i.e.: “ If the earth to be saved from environmental catastrophe,
we shall all have to make major changes in our lifestyles” (Gear, Cambridge
preparation for the TOEFL test, 1996). This type of writing will focus on
expressing ideas and their linking as well. To write a good essay the
students will require the knowledge of the topic, or schemata, the
knowledge of a relevant vocabulary, appropriate style and organization of
the written text, i.e. thesis sentence, paragraphs, etc (examples available
in Appendix p. 377 – 378).
Therefore, we can conclude that the writing part of TOEFL test could be
called also an integrative type of test involving the range of strategies.
Moreover, it could be defined as direct testing, for it implies testing
exactly the writing skill. Furthermore, it is totally based on the
knowledge how to organize an essay with all necessary paragraphs,
introductions and conclusions.
Key word transformations will make the students alter the sentences
structures, however preserving the entire meaning of them. They will have
to complete a sentence with a given word; here the vocabulary and grammar
will be of major interest again (examples available in Appendix p.86). The
usual change will occur with phrasal verbs, active and passive voice, verbs
and prepositions that go together, etc.:
1. I didn’t like the story and I didn’t like the actors. neither
I ______________________the actors.
Prodromou, First Certificate Star,
1998
________ If you want to find out about someone’s personality, one way of
to do it is to
________take a sample of their handwriting and analyse it; this is called
by
________graphology. To do graphology properly, it is important to use
fairly typical…..
Prodromou, First Certificate Star, 1998
Error correction will differ from that in CFC, for in TOEFL test we will
have a statement with the underlined words that are supposed to be wrong.
The students will have to choose the correct variant (examples available in
Appendix p. 387 – 390). It will usually be based on the students’ knowledge
of grammar items and word formation as well. For example:
Speaking
Speaking is another part of the test that is present in CFC and is not
included into TOEFL test. It could be explained by the fact that if the
student passes TOEFL test successfully, s/he will be interviewed directly
at the place s/he needed the test for.
Therefore, will briefly look at CFC speaking part and discuss it. It aims
at the students’ ability to use spoken language effectively in different
types of interaction. The students could be asked to give personal
information, talk about pictures and photographs, be involved in pair work
task or even in discussion.
In personal information part the students could be asked to supply the
personal details about themselves: i.e. their job, family position,
studies, etc.( examples available in Appendix 10 – 11).
In describing pictures or photographs they will have to share their
opinion about them speaking with an examiner. There will be a time limit
set for the talk.
In pair work task and discussion the students will be supplied either by
pictures or photos or by charts and diagrams. They will be joined in pairs
and will have to carry out the task together. It could be either the
solving the problem, planning something, putting something in order or
discussing a certain topic. Discussion will certainly require the students’
personal opinion and analysis of a topic (examples available in Appendix
63).
In CFC the students will have to cooperate with another interlocutor:
either the examiner or another participant.
The author of the paper assume that this part is both integrative and
indirect testing. It is integrative, for it will involve the students’
knowledge of the whole aspects of the language: grammar, sentence
structure, vocabulary, listening skills and may be even reading skills if
the task will be written. To communicate successfully the students will
require listening and comprehending the other speaker’s message to respond.
Grammar should be accurate to produce a good and correct dialogue or a
monologue, for accuracy is an important factor there. The rich word stock
will be inevitable element as well.
Indirect testing means that the whole material will be included while
testing speaking skills.
To conclude we can declare that CFC and TOEFL tests are both integrative
and discreet point tests. They are also direct, however, speaking part in
CFC could be defined as indirect one involving all four skills to be used.
Conclusions
Theses
2. The tests can facilitate the students’ acquisition process and function
as a tool to increase their motivation; however, too much of testing
could be disastrous changing entirely the students’ attitude towards
learning the language, especially if the results are usually
dissatisfying.
3. Assessment and evaluation are important aspects for the teacher and the
students and should be correlated in order to make evaluation and
assessment “go hand in hand”.
4. The test should be valid and reliable. They should test what was taught,
taking the learner’s individual pace into account. Moreover, the
instructions of the test should be unambiguous.
5. Validity deals with what is tested and degree to which a test measures
what is supposed to measure.
6. Reliability shows that the test’s results will be similar and will not
change if one and the same test will be given on various days.
8. There are two important aspect direct and indirect testing. Direct
testing means the involvement of a skill that is supposed to be tested,
whereas indirect testing tests the usage of the language in real-life
situation and is assumed to be more effective.
10. There are various tests formats, such as multiple-choice tasks, gap-
filling tests, cloze tests, true/false statements, etc. used to check
four language skills.
11. To enter any foreign university the students are supposed to take the
TOEFL or CFC tests. Besides, they can be taken to reveal the student’s
level of the English language.
12. Serving for almost similar purpose, however being sometimes different
in their design and structure, the TOEFL and CFC tests are usually
constructed according to the accepted universal pattern.
Bibliography